James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology
Year Started at PTS: 1998

Contact Info


412-924-1430

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Chicago / Christian Theology
  • M.Div., McCormick Theological Seminary
  • M.A., University of Chicago / Religion
  • B.A., Colorado College / Philosophy/Native American Studies

Recent Courses Taught

  • Church and Sacraments
  • Confessing the Faith Today
  • Reformed Theology: Practice and Formation
  • The Pastoral Rule
  • Ancient Church History
  • Introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy
  • Protestant Encounters with Orthodoxy

Church Association

Ordination: PC(USA), Minister of Word and Sacrament

Professional Competencies

Areas of Specialty

  • Ecclesiology
  • Worship and Sacraments
  • Theology of Karl Barth
  • Orthodox Church in Post-Communist Russia
  • Protestant Church in Post-Communist Eastern Germany

Professional Service

Board Service

  • Fellow of the Center for Barth Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
  • Member of the Board of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology (Pro Ecclesia)

Leadership for Professional Societies

  • Chairman of the International Connections Committee of the American Academy of Religion

Awards/Fellowships/Distinctions

  • 2022: Summer Research Lab Associate, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
  • 2018-2019, Fulbright Scholar
  • 2014-2015: Research Fellow, Center of Theological Inquiry
  • 2012: Luce Fellow in Theology
  • 2011: Fulbright Scholar

Additional Resources

  • High res image
  • "In-Churching Russia," First Things, May 2014. In this article, Dr. Burgess discusses observations of the reemergence of the Orthodox Church in post-Soviet Russia through the eyes of an American Protestant.
  • In this podcast, Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. John Burgess about the Seminary's Eastern Christian Doctor of Ministry cohort, an academic offering presented in partnership with Antiochian House of Studies. Listen to the podcast.